How many people know that my title is the name of our state song.
How many people know what the Official State Gemstone is...or the State Soil?
What about the Official State Rock...the State Tree...how about the State Bird.
Why would you care about any of these things is my next question, because they are symbols, symbols of the state, enacted by our state government, a state government that had time to decide these things, or that we needed an official state soil.
Most people are talking about the budget crunch and the short-lived shutdown, but in my opinion this is but the visual for the underlying problem, the problem of the overreach of government.
When I looked at the list of things that was to be shut down this morning I was shocked that there was this much useless things that the state does that needed to be shut down.
Now of course there are things like the state parks, the Secretary of State, and construction on the numbered roads, those are things that are things that government should be doing and should have to pay for with tax money, for these are the things we need for an ordered society.
However some of the other things are just a hindrance on the ability for people to live the way they want and for the invisible hand of the free market to do what it does best. When I was explaining the effects of the shutdown the parts that caused the most contention was that liquor sales would stop after stocks ran out because liquor is delivered by the states and the cigarettes that need the stamps in order to be sold.
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These are things that get in the way of commerce, if I want a bottle of Jack Daniels and a pack of smokes I shouldn't have to depend on my government to get them, I should be able to go to a person who sells them and get them. We don't have these restrictions on beer and wine, which soothed a few people who were mad about the liquor thing. In order to return government to the role that we want it to be at I think we need to look beyond the simple solutions and go to the bigger ones.
I think we need to seriously begin to look at the size and scope of our legislative bodies. I firmly believe that we need to make our legislature a part time one. This would accomplish two things in my mind, it would make the legislature more accountable to the voters because they spend more time in the district and not in Lansing, and it would give the legislature only the amount of time to do what it needs to do to run the state and not time to waste on things like a State Soil, even though I know there was someone lobbying to get a state soil.
Another idea has been the unicameral legislature, like Nebraska. I have always been intrigued by that idea. However I think it is the weaker of the two ideas. The House and Senate do serve important purposes, they do make sure one doesn't go too nutty in doing something. Especially in a time like now when the House and Governor are one party and the Senate is another. However what this would do would create a de facto state Prime Minister, which would lead to endless power struggles between the Governor and the leader of the Legislature.
Instead of eliminating the Senate, I also think some reform may be in order. Right now the Senate acts just like a smaller House, elected by district according to a political gerrymander every ten years. I think we should look to the model of our federal government. Instead of having a Senate elected by district I think we should have one elected by County, this would give the less populated counties a bigger voice in the running of the state, instead of everything being about the population centers of the Metro Detroit area, and the greater Grand Rapids area. One Senator per county would give us 83 Senators and 110 Representatives, but the mindset would change and that is something that is needed in Lansing.
Now I am still at the beginning at my journey through local, state, and national politics, but there is nothing wrong with any idea, short of dictatorial control, being discussed and debated, by taking a hard look at how our government is run I think we can come together and find a way to make it work better not just for me, but for all of us here in the Great State of Michigan.
Oh by the way...State symbols
State nicknames: Wolverine State, Great Lakes State, Mitten State, Water Winter Wonderland
State motto: Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice (Latin: If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you). This is a paraphrase of a statement made by British architect Sir Christopher Wren about his influence on London.
State song: My Michigan (official since 1937, but disputed amongst Michiganders)
State bird: American Robin (since 1931)
State animal: Wolverine (traditional, though not codified)
State game animal: White-tailed Deer (since 1997)
State fish: Brook Trout (since 1965)
State reptile: Painted Turtle (since 1995)
State fossil: Mastodon (since 2000)
State flower: Apple Blossom (adopted in 1897, official in 1997)
State wildflower: Dwarf Lake Iris (since 1998). Known as Iris lacustris, it is a federally listed threatened species.
State tree: White Pine (since 1955)
State stone: Petoskey stone (since 1965). It is composed of fossilized coral (Hexagonaria pericarnata) from long ago when the middle of the continent was covered with a shallow sea.
State gem: Isle Royale greenstone (since 1973). Also called chlorastrolite (literally "green star stone"), the mineral is found on Isle Royale and the Keweenaw peninsula.
State soil: Kalkaska Sand (since 1990), ranges in color from black to yellowish brown, covers nearly a million acres (4,000 km²) in 29 counties.
Credit: Wikipedia.com
How many people know what the Official State Gemstone is...or the State Soil?
What about the Official State Rock...the State Tree...how about the State Bird.
Why would you care about any of these things is my next question, because they are symbols, symbols of the state, enacted by our state government, a state government that had time to decide these things, or that we needed an official state soil.
Most people are talking about the budget crunch and the short-lived shutdown, but in my opinion this is but the visual for the underlying problem, the problem of the overreach of government.
When I looked at the list of things that was to be shut down this morning I was shocked that there was this much useless things that the state does that needed to be shut down.
Now of course there are things like the state parks, the Secretary of State, and construction on the numbered roads, those are things that are things that government should be doing and should have to pay for with tax money, for these are the things we need for an ordered society.
However some of the other things are just a hindrance on the ability for people to live the way they want and for the invisible hand of the free market to do what it does best. When I was explaining the effects of the shutdown the parts that caused the most contention was that liquor sales would stop after stocks ran out because liquor is delivered by the states and the cigarettes that need the stamps in order to be sold.
/
These are things that get in the way of commerce, if I want a bottle of Jack Daniels and a pack of smokes I shouldn't have to depend on my government to get them, I should be able to go to a person who sells them and get them. We don't have these restrictions on beer and wine, which soothed a few people who were mad about the liquor thing. In order to return government to the role that we want it to be at I think we need to look beyond the simple solutions and go to the bigger ones.
I think we need to seriously begin to look at the size and scope of our legislative bodies. I firmly believe that we need to make our legislature a part time one. This would accomplish two things in my mind, it would make the legislature more accountable to the voters because they spend more time in the district and not in Lansing, and it would give the legislature only the amount of time to do what it needs to do to run the state and not time to waste on things like a State Soil, even though I know there was someone lobbying to get a state soil.
Another idea has been the unicameral legislature, like Nebraska. I have always been intrigued by that idea. However I think it is the weaker of the two ideas. The House and Senate do serve important purposes, they do make sure one doesn't go too nutty in doing something. Especially in a time like now when the House and Governor are one party and the Senate is another. However what this would do would create a de facto state Prime Minister, which would lead to endless power struggles between the Governor and the leader of the Legislature.
Instead of eliminating the Senate, I also think some reform may be in order. Right now the Senate acts just like a smaller House, elected by district according to a political gerrymander every ten years. I think we should look to the model of our federal government. Instead of having a Senate elected by district I think we should have one elected by County, this would give the less populated counties a bigger voice in the running of the state, instead of everything being about the population centers of the Metro Detroit area, and the greater Grand Rapids area. One Senator per county would give us 83 Senators and 110 Representatives, but the mindset would change and that is something that is needed in Lansing.
Now I am still at the beginning at my journey through local, state, and national politics, but there is nothing wrong with any idea, short of dictatorial control, being discussed and debated, by taking a hard look at how our government is run I think we can come together and find a way to make it work better not just for me, but for all of us here in the Great State of Michigan.
Oh by the way...State symbols
State nicknames: Wolverine State, Great Lakes State, Mitten State, Water Winter Wonderland
State motto: Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice (Latin: If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you). This is a paraphrase of a statement made by British architect Sir Christopher Wren about his influence on London.
State song: My Michigan (official since 1937, but disputed amongst Michiganders)
State bird: American Robin (since 1931)
State animal: Wolverine (traditional, though not codified)
State game animal: White-tailed Deer (since 1997)
State fish: Brook Trout (since 1965)
State reptile: Painted Turtle (since 1995)
State fossil: Mastodon (since 2000)
State flower: Apple Blossom (adopted in 1897, official in 1997)
State wildflower: Dwarf Lake Iris (since 1998). Known as Iris lacustris, it is a federally listed threatened species.
State tree: White Pine (since 1955)
State stone: Petoskey stone (since 1965). It is composed of fossilized coral (Hexagonaria pericarnata) from long ago when the middle of the continent was covered with a shallow sea.
State gem: Isle Royale greenstone (since 1973). Also called chlorastrolite (literally "green star stone"), the mineral is found on Isle Royale and the Keweenaw peninsula.
State soil: Kalkaska Sand (since 1990), ranges in color from black to yellowish brown, covers nearly a million acres (4,000 km²) in 29 counties.
Credit: Wikipedia.com
3 comments:
The title of your post is "Michigan, My Michigan." This is NOT the title of the Michigan State Song.
"My Michigan" is the state song.
I'm going to be honest with you.
When I was given the music to play at a State Fair parade in high school it was called "Michigan, My Michigan", it's probably one of those things in dispute about the thing.
But the point works either way.
Official state soil. Golly.
So, is there an official state honorary title, the way Kentucky has Colonels and Indiana has Sachems?
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